Meet Leslie Hunsinger, the January Advocate Spotlight for 2023. Leslie was looking for a unique volunteer experience to help children and she found CASA.
Leslie began advocating at CASA of Luzerne County in October 2022. Her heart was guiding her toward doing some type of work with adopted children or children in the foster care system because she had been impacted deeply by news stories of abused and neglected children. She came to CASA without any other experience working with children and feels she is “very green”.
Leslie reached out and attended an information session with CASA. The more she was contacted and the more she learned the more she could not say no. Leslie stated, “ The staff was very knowledgeable and available to me for conversations which was encouraging. They had a very open and inviting model for recruitment and they are just cool people.” The need is very great for CASA.
Leslie’s most memorable experience as a CASA so far is hearing her CASA kid talk about himself and his growth, how he feels he has grown and changed. This is very heartwarming to Leslie. He has described how he looks now versus how he looked “back then” and he believes he looks like a new person. Leslie cannot say enough good things about him, describing him as a wonderful, smart, loving, funny and gifted young man who has amazing things in his future.
Due to Leslie’s advocacy her youth experienced great change in the trajectory of his case. He had been in a residential treatment facility for 9 months and had not been granted any home passes to see his family. Leslie fought hard for him to go home on home passes. These home pass opportunities showed CYS that he had made great progress. He now has a “light at the end of the tunnel” and hopes to be returning home soon. This would not have happened without Leslie’s advocacy. (update: he was returned home during a court hearing on 1/25/23) Great job Leslie!
Leslie’s advice for potential advocates is that advocacy is an emotional burden, but a burden of love. She fights for what her CASA kid wants and needs as any parent would. She advises all future advocates to fight for what these kids need.
Leslie wishes that people knew that anyone can become an advocate. As long as you have a big heart and a lot of love. These kids just need someone to believe in them, to fight for them and show them love. Leslie’s quote is, “DO IT, BE A CASA!!”
The most important thing to Leslie about being an advocate is knowing she is making a difference in the life of her CASA kid. She is excited to see him growing into an adult and making positive changes as he joins society as a grown up.
We are grateful to Leslie for her commitment to her advocacy and commitment to her community. If you’d like to make a difference in the life of a child in the way Leslie has, we invite you to join us for an info session to learn more about advocacy and what it means to be a CASA.
Leslie lives in Nanticoke after growing up a “military brat” having lived in many places including Japan and Ethiopia. She is happily married to her nerdy husband Mark for 8 yrs and they have two goofy (and adorable) boys, Alex (4) and Lincoln(1). Leslie has a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications from King’s College (Go Monarchs!) She is a Senior Content Coordinator at LeftField Media. In short, she makes comic cons happen. (How cool is that!)
